Month: May 2009

The rainy season has come, and the snails have once again colonized the park.

Being nocturnal creatures they only come out after dark. They hide under the shades of leaves in daytime, when there are more predators.

The night, however, isn’t safer. In dim light, crossing path with their primate neighbors at sluggish speed is suicidal, and the consequences are often rather messy.

There are so many of them that, in some places, I have to tip-toe my way through.

Where did they come from? Did the wind carry the eggs to the park? Have they been living nearby before the place is built?

I remember reading about a fictional experiment in which someone dug a pool and filled it with water. The pool was not in any way connected to any waterbody. Yet, some time later, fishes started growing in the pool! The explanation he gave was somewhere along the lines of “Life will find its way”, which is what Jeff Goldblum’s character said in The Jurassic Park.

It’s tragic that sometimes, like those crushed snails, life finds its way to death.

This is a thorough summary of the reasons why expressions like these should be deleted on sight.

If they are brief, they are not details.

2. Accelerating slowdown:

For example: “China’s economic slowdown is accelerating” or “CPI inflation slowed down at an accelerating pace in the first six months of…” It wouldn’t surprise me if sentences like these start appearing in future: “The car’s acceleration in deceleration decelerated when it went from 100 mph to 90, 50, 45 and then 44.”

It is clearer to say “the slowdown is intensifying”.

3. Negative growth:

This garbage term is favored by corporations as a pathetic attempt to masquerade losses. Investors are not stupid (I mean, not THAT stupid). “Negative growth” doesn’t sound any way better than “decrease”, and is grossly overused. It’s about as clever as a bald man saying he has reverse hair growth. I bet he also wants to age negatively.

Use expressions like these with caution (read: avoid). The word “oxymoron” ends with “moron” for good reason.